Reidentification and reallocation of Mus callitrichus and allocations of Rattus maculipilis, R.m. jentinki, and R. microbullatus (Rodentia, Muridae). American Museum novitates ; no. 2440

35 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 33-35)."The historical usage of the name callitrichus and the allocations of taxa associated with it can be summarized as follows: Rattus callitrichus callitrichus (Jentink): Mus callitrichus Jentink ... Mus callithrichus ... Rattus callitrichus ... Lenomys callitrichus ... Eropeplus callitrichus ... Rattus maculipilis. Rattus callitrichus jentinki Laurie and Hill: Rattus maculipilis jentinki.... Rattus callitrichus microbullatus Tate and Archbold: Rattus microbullatus.... I have omitted Matschie's (1900, p. 280) reference to the specimen described under the name 'Mus (Gymnomys) callitrichus' from this synonymy because I have not seen the specimen and I cannot be certain of its identity. The treatment of the three subspecies of R. callitrichus listed above should be taken as provisional. My main purposes in this report are to allocate the name callitrichus to Rattus and to associate the names maculipilis, jentinki, and microbullatus with Rattus callitrichus. There are not enough specimens, and consequently inadequate data, to determine the actual geographic distribution and the individual and geographic variation in populations of R. callitrichus from northern, middle, and southeastern Celebes. Of the three sets of samples, the specimens from middle and southeastern Celebes are alike in color of pelage, and both contrast with the sample from northeastern Celebes. On the other hand, the samples from northeastern and middle Celebes are closely similar in dimensions, proportions, and configurations of skulls and teeth; the specimens from southeastern Celebes are conspicuously set apart from the two other series in these features. The significance of these external, cranial, and dental differences, however, cannot be realistically evaluated with the small samples that are now available for study. Nor can I comment now on the morphological and zoogeographical relationships of R. callitrichus to other species of Rattus. Ellerman (1949) thought that R. callitrichus was the counterpart on Celebes of R. infraluteus, a species allied to R. mülleri and known from Borneo, Sumatra, and Java (Chasen, 1940). Laurie and Hill compared the two specimens of R. maculipilis with R. infraluteus and pointed out the close cranial resemblances between the two species. The association between these two species needs to be tested further, however, and I hope to present more information on the relationships of R. callitrichus in a future report on the taxonomy and geographic distribution of rodents of Celebes"--P. 31-32